27.8.2020

The EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) has published its fourth monthly Bulletin on the impact of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on fundamental rights across the EU Member States. Coronavirus pandemic in the EU – fundamental rights implications (July 2020) covers measures in place in June 2020.

During the reporting period, many governments continued to lift states of emergency, but imposed other crisis measures instead. This prompted concerns about the legal basis for such measures and on-going limitations on fundamental rights. While many restrictions on the daily life of people were gradually relaxed, constraints such as physical distancing measures remain in place. The report surveys the impact of the containment measures on public life, education, work and travel and on vulnerable groups such as people in institutional settings, older persons, persons with disabilities, Roma and Travellers, detainees, and victims of domestic violence. In its closing chapter, the report provides updated information on some of the specific fundamental rights issues addressed in previous Bulletins, namely racism and xenophobia; asylum and migration; disinformation; and data protection and privacy.

FRA’s multidisciplinary research network, FRANET, collected the data and information for the Bulletin across all 27 EU Member States. The Institute for Human Rights at Åbo Akademi University, together with the Faculty of Law at the University of Turku, currently form the national focal point of FRANET in Finland. The researchers at the Institute for Human Rights at Åbo Akademi University have compiled the country report on Finland.